Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,84

brighter.

“So if you’re killed in the line of duty…you’re treated like you were just some criminal acting on his own? They don’t bring fallen soldiers back to their families?”

“An althicar is no typical soldier. I understood the dangers when I volunteered.” He lifted both his gaze and his hand, brushing the backs of his fingers over her cheek as he looked into her eyes. “I am far more concerned with what I do with my life now than what happens after I am gone.”

She smiled softly. “What makes them glow?”

“It is a reaction between our biochemistry and the substance used to create the markings. It’s supposedly similar to the process that makes our eyes glow, but I can’t pretend to really understand the science behind it.” He looked back down at the marking and willed its glow to cease; it was like flexing a phantom muscle, maddeningly intangible but nonetheless effective.

She smoothed her palm over his upper arm. “That’s amazing! Even your eyes dimmed.”

But he knew his eyes had brightened again when he lifted them back to her face; they were clearly reflected in her eyes.

“So what does the symbol on this mean?” she asked, returning her hand to the keepsake box.

Zevris touched a fingertip to the lid, tracing the carving. His finger lightly brushed hers. “It means something like…dear or treasured.”

Tabitha gifted him with that smile he was coming to adore so much. “What’s the word in your language?”

“Nyka.”

Her brow creased, and she tilted her head. “That sounds pretty close to what you’ve been calling me.”

Zevris chuckled, once again running his finger along hers. “Nykasha. It means beloved one.”

“Oh.” She averted her eyes, and her cheeks pinkened as she placed the box on the shelf. “It’s…a beautiful word. Especially the way you say it.”

Reaching out, he caught Tabitha by her hips and drew her close. Her breath hitched, and she braced her hands on his shoulders.

“You are beautiful, Tabitha,” he said, walking her back until she bumped into the workbench. He leaned closer, so his lips were next to her ear, dropped his voice low. “And I’ve a thirst I’m desperate to slake.”

Tabitha drew back to look at him with wide eyes. “H-here?”

“No,” he rumbled as he hooked his fingers under the waistband of her leggings and panties. He drew them down slowly, relishing the feel of her soft skin, until they were bunched around her knees. When he glided his hands back up, he cupped her ass and lifted her off the floor. She gasped, bending toward him to brace herself, her hair brushing his face.

He sat her on the edge of the workbench. “Here.”

Grabbing her leggings and panties, Zevris yanked them the rest of the way off her legs and tossed them aside before wedging his body between her thighs. He settled his hands on her knees and smoothed his palms over her skin, feeling her flesh pebble under his touch.

She stared up at him, pupils dilating, eyes hungry.

Her scent, her need, called to him, and he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with it. His cock, already hard and throbbing, strained against his jeans with enough strength and urgency that it seemed likely to tear the denim apart at the seams.

“Are you wet for me, Tabitha?” Zevris tilted his head down, brushing his nose through her fragrant hair. He curled his thumbs over her inner thighs. “Do you yearn for more? Are you aching to have my tongue between your thighs, licking that sweet pussy?”

Her lips parted, and her grip on his shoulders tightened.

He pushed her legs open wider. “Let me hear you say it, Nykasha.”

“Yes,” Tabitha breathed.

That word, so simple, so brief, so softly spoken, was the most moving, powerful thing he’d ever heard in any language. The desirous flames that had been burning within him since the moment he’d first seen Tabitha roared, building to a consuming inferno.

But he could not give in to it, not yet. Not until Tabitha’s yes meant everything.

Zevris slipped a hand between their bodies and dragged a finger through her slit. He closed his eyes and groaned, nearly spilling in his pants. She was so hot and wet.

He worked his finger over her, all the gladder that he’d bitten off the tips of his claws to be able to touch her like this. When he stroked her clit, Tabitha’s breath caught, and she shivered. Her sex blossomed beneath his touch, and her essence gathered like dew upon those delicate petals.

Taking in another lungful of air perfumed by her scent, Zevris